Specific protein, ligand, antibody and nucleic acid probes are used to detect macromolecules embedded in polyacrylamide or agarose gels, or attached to sheets of nitrocellulose or other related materials. However, prior to the detection step, extensive washing is often mandatory and the washing process often results in breakage of the sheets or gels. Further, these primitive washing procedures often lead to the wash solutions being splashed about, potentially causing contamination of the work bench or the scientist. Still further, the scientist often decants the wash solution while holding the solid media into the inverted tray by hand. This forces the scientist or lab assistant to have intimate contact with the solutions, some which are strongly radioactive (e.g. .sup.125 I, .sup.32 P, .sup.35 S, etc.) or carcinosenic. Mere use of gloves will seldom provide protection against these agents due to minor imperfections or tears in the glove surface. Additionally, the usual plastic gloves used in the lab are not radiation resistant. To avoid touching the medium that is being washed, a scientist can hold the materials in the tray with forceps; however, frequent handling with forceps often leads to marring or tearing of the gel or the strip.
It is thus desirable to have a system for washing biological materials which can overcome the above problems.
It is thus an object of the present invention to create a method for the safe and effective washing of biological materials which does not involve physically holding down the materials.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for carrying out the safe and effective washing of biological materials through the method of the present invention.